Letter from the Pastor
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September 27, 2020The Sacraments
It has been a long, historical wait; they have been waiting since May due to the Pandemic of 2020. Now our children and teenagers will receive their Sacrament starting next Saturday with our School’s First Holy Communion class. 15 of our students will receive Our Lord for the first time; then on October 17th and 24th the rest of our parish children will receive their First Holy Communion. On August 15th and 22nd, we already held two sessions with some of the children.
Bishop Walsh will visit our parish on October 9th and 23rd for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please keep our children in your prayers as we begin the immediate preparations for the reception of the Sacraments.
It will be different this year, like most things, limiting the number of family members who can attend. We will livestream the ceremonies from our YouTube channel or from our website.
Blessing of the Animals
Next Sunday, October 4th is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of the animals. Traditionally, on this day, we bring our pets to Church to have them blessed. On the Church’s plaza, in front of the Church, on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 4th at 2:00 PM, we will gather in front of the statue of St. Francis, and we will have the blessing of animals. You are cordially invited to bring your pet, big or small. There will be a brief service with the blessing of the animals. Please wear a face covering and we will keep our distance from one another.
Animals have a part in human life and existence. We humans are the stewards of God’s creation. And we have a moral obligation to take care of God’s world, of which animals play a vital part. So we thank God for the gift of our pets, and in fact all animals and creatures of God.
Pilgrimage to the Holy Land Postponed
So many businesses have been affected by this pandemic, none as much as the travel industry. Last week I talked with Colette Tours, responsible for our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Israel has just closed its borders once again because of another outbreak, and most people are not feeling safe to travel, or being on a plane for 10 hours etc. So, we are going to postpone our parish pilgrimage until OCTOBER 31, 2021, arriving in the Holy Land on All Saint’s Day. The price of the trip will remain the same. We still have room for extra people who may want to go. Soon I will have more information and publish the details.
Feast of the Archangels
Tuesday is the feast of the Archangels: Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, each were given a specific task by God to help humanity.
The name of the archangel Michael means, in Hebrew, who is like unto God and he is also known as "the prince of the heavenly host." He is usually pictured as a strong warrior, dressed in armor and wearing sandals. His name appears in Scripture four times, twice in the Book of Daniel, and once each in the Epistle of St. Jude and the Book of Revelation. From Revelation we learn of the battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels combating Lucifer and the other fallen angels (or devils). We invoke St. Michael to help us in our fight against Satan; to rescue souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death; as well as he presents our soul to God for judgment.
St. Gabriel's name means "God is my strength". He appears three times as a messenger: to Daniel to explain a vision concerning the Messiah; to Zachary to foretell the birth of his son, St. John the Baptist and as the messenger of the Annunciation.
Our knowledge of the Archangel Raphael comes to us from the book of Tobit. His mission as wonderful healer and fellow traveler with the youthful Tobias has caused him to be invoked for journeys and at critical moments in life. Tradition also holds that Raphael is the angel that stirred the waters at the healing sheep pool in Bethesda. His name means "God has healed". We invoke our angelic friends to watch over us and to help us.
